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I’ve been a little AWOL in posting on either Camping Capers or Thymeless Sage and Random Rants lately. We’ve been busy purchasing lake property but doing some camping and fishing along the way. This weekend we were privileged to have Elle and her friend Kelsey for an overnight visit. I’m so very glad we did because it not only gave us a chance to craft a little, it also restored my hope for the younger generation. You’ll see what I mean.

Here we are doing a water color relief painting. The girls water colored fall shades onto their dampened canvases. I love how they have their own styles of doing things and are encouraging to each other in the process. After the painted canvas dries a bit, they will take some leaf stamps, press them into the fabric, and it should…I say should remove some of the color. It did, but then the white space slowly disappeared as the color was still bleeding. Maybe we got our surfaces a bit too wet. At any rate, we decided to use some acrylics and paint over the topography of the stamp and press that into the color. That worked a bit better.

Pretty, right?

So are the fun Halloweenish fingernails.

But after it was too dark to do anymore outside projects, then the REAL creativity began. These two friends have always had a flair for the dramatic, and Saint and I have laughed at their Carol Burnett like character skits, especially the old man and old woman scenes. This time, they changed it up a bit. When they asked if I wanted to play doctor, I was taken aback, unsure if their parents would approve, and also wondering just what my role would be in all this. Turns out, this is what I was talking about…restoring my hope in the younger generation. As they went to the junk drawer and brought out a note pad, pens, peppermints, balloons, etc., one volunteered to be the doctor, the other the patient, and I was assigned the role of nurse. Pre admission forms were made and filled out, and the free play-comedy began. I can’t remember when I’ve laughed so much. Such talent! From inserting pins into a shoulder of an 81 year old man diagnosed with Politis (This after Saint taught them the ropes of playing pool) to massaging “moldy feet” of another patient, and restricting certain movement to a patient named Miley, the hospital staff was busy and entertained.

It was a fun and simple project involving covering a tile with alcohol, dropping the alcohol inks on, and watching the colors combine. Sometimes, we went back and dropped more on just to see what would happen. After it dried, we chose one to sign with a Sharpie, and I sprayed them all with a clear finish.

And then they asked if we had a tent. I replied that we had one but it went on back of the truck. Now, here’s some more of that hope restoration I was talking about. They said they wanted to play Indians. I strung up the clothesline on the covered deck, put a sheet over it, and they were ready to play as soon as we gathered up some bowls, sticks, and other primitive cooking utensils. They went to the garden on a hunting/gathering mission and returned with a variety of leaves, berries, nuts, and flowers for their “concoctions.”

And here are the lovely Indian maidens playing just like my cousins and I used to play all summer long. Ah, the memories of mud pies and water fights! And the best part…

They left these outside the tent and I never saw them check them even once!

I was able to convince them to dabble in the paint one last time before we went inside. I thought this project totally fitting for the Drama Queens of the Good Sort.

A few board games later, the girls went upstairs. I saw them gather their doctor equipment and they soon had their hospital set up. When it was time for them to leave, I asked if they wanted me to go up and get the sheets off the bed and look around to see if they had left anything out of their overnight bags. They informed me they had already made the bed and picked up all their stuff.

Sure enough, when I went up this morning to get the sheets, the bed was made, well, just like a hospital bed. Everything was picked up, and the only reminder of their visit was on the door of the next room.